Lead is industrial pollutant that may have toxic effects on the male. The aim of this study was to further investigate the protective effects of vitamin E on lead acetate (Pb) induced reproductive toxicities and genotoxicity effects in male rat. Sexually mature male Wistar rats (weighing 120-160 g) were given Pb (20 mg/Kg) and vitamin E (600 mg/kg/rat) orally for 20 days. The sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm morphology, chromosomal aberrations, FSH, LH and testosterone levels, and histopathological changes in the testes of these rats, were investigated at the end of 20 days. Result revealed a statistically significant (p<0.01) increase in the number of abnormal sperm in treated animal. Lead acetate increased the percentage of chromosomal abnormalities. Significant decrease in LH, FSH, and testosterone were observed in treated group compare with the control. Pathological examination of testicular tissues showed degenerative changes of spermatogonia and spermatocytes to advanced degeneration and vacuolation. The observation, dealing that lead acetate can be considered as an environmental genotoxic and cytotoxic effect in male rat and may contribute in reduction of fertility. We recommended that it must be administered of vitamin E as a protective agent to reduce the genotoxic effect of lead in the somatic and germ cells.

Abstract\nPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which risk awareness and management skills and techniques affect the growth of small to medium enterprise operations.\nDesign/Methodology: This research is based on a survey of issues and literature published in various textbooks on small to medium enterprises and entrepreneurship. Examples that are prevailing in the Zimbabwean context were used.\nFindings: Findings indicate that small to medium enterprises are failing to grow and sustain their operation as a result of lack of risk awareness and management techniques. SMEs as entrepreneurs should take calculated risk and use hedging techniques where necessary to reduce the loss in the event of the occurrence of the negative event. The majority of people, who enter into SMEs, do so as a last resort to survive after retirement or retrenchment or death of the bread winner. These usually do not have the risk management skills and techniques to operate successfully and hence a knowledge gap is created as indicated in prevailing situations in Zimbabwe. Given the growth rate failure of SMEs as a result of lack of risk management skills there is need for risk awareness campaigns and risk management techniques impartation to SMEs\nPractical implication-SMEs need to be equipped with risk management skills to sustain their operations (there is need for refresher courses designed to impart SMEs with risk quantification and mitigation measures).

Poultry egg and meat is an important source of high quality proteins, minerals and vitamins to balance the human diet, specially developed varieties of chicken are now available with the trait of quick growth and high feed conversion efficiency. A majority of the poultry products available for consumption in Tamilnadu come from rural poultry production in spite of the dearth of knowledge on their statistics, production, management practices, disease control methods and level of Government intervention in the business. The need to obtain baseline information on the availability of rural poultry under the village conditions in Namakkal Area formed the basis of the study. The study investigated production systems and reproductive performance of village chicken in rural areas the surrounding of Namakkal town, Tamilnadu State. Data used were collected from rural poultry farmers in the Namakkal District using structured questionnaires and were analyzed by means of simple average and percentages.\nThe study revealed that Men dominated (93.3%) rural poultry production. Middle age persons dominated the study area compared to other age groups (45.9 vs. 25.8 &28;.3 %). Married people were engaged in rural poultry production(87.8). Majority of poultry farmers in rural areas were having school level education (51.3%) likewise, farm ownership of the rural areas were Sole Proprietors (78.6%) and Partnership (21.4%).Relevant solutions centering on dedicated support from government are suggested.

The aim of this study is to determine which theoretical information criteria is more appropriate (among eleven frequently used) for mixture model selection when considering datasets with mixed (both categorical and numerical) clustering base variables. In order to select among information criteria, which may support the selection of the correct number of clusters, we conduct a simulation study. The generation of mixtures with both multinomial and multivariate normal data supports the proposed analysis. As a result, we establish a relationship between the level of measurement of clustering variables (mixed) and some (eleven) information criteria’s performance on finite mixture models. The criterion AIC3, followed by AICu, shows better overall performance (it indicates the correct number of the simulated clusters’ structures more often) when referring to mixtures of mixed clustering base variables.